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Old 18th May 2021, 2:21 pm   #1
telstar
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Default Bush VHF80

I have two of these radios at one stage, one I bought, and the other belonging to someone from work.
Both suffered from Hunts capacitors ("mould seal"), which took some time to sort out and replace.
However, the second one was owned by a work colleague who wanted to donate it to me. Whilst getting the radio from the boot of his car, he nearly let it slip out on to the car park at work which would have destroyed the set. Luckily, I was quick to catch it!
When I got the chassis from the cabinet, I noticed that the wiring to the heater chain had been broken in several places (not sure if it was deliberate or not?) I managed to rewire the heater chain and of course change all the bad capacitors and a few resistors.
Later, I managed to persuade him to keep his radio and charged him for my time. He agreed and said that he was glad that he did not get rid of his radio.
Cheers
Mike
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Old 18th May 2021, 2:30 pm   #2
Sideband
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

These are excellent radio's. I have one and it will receive stations on MW that many others don't. It's due to the dual use of an extra UF89 which doubles as an RF amp on AM and an extra IF amp (making three) on FM. A small amount of negative feedback greatly improves the sound quality. For a modest table radio, these perform far better than than their looks would have you believe.
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Old 18th May 2021, 4:07 pm   #3
cathoderay57
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

Nice work. We had one as a kitchen radio in my parents' house back in the 1970s-80s. I don't recall where it came from but it was definitely second-hand. It was left permanently tuned to R. Nottingham. I painted it gloss orange, which was sacrilege, but I was younger then..... Jerry
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Old 4th Jun 2021, 3:01 pm   #4
MurphyNut
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

Nice radio, one of the few Bush valve sets that I have that works well on VHF, those little hunt capacitors are certainly fiddly to get at.
Mine is the VHF80c with the read scale, not sure what the C version differences are apart from the colour!
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Old 7th Jun 2021, 3:50 pm   #5
Beardyman
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

They are lovely radios, I've got the VHF81, beautiful sound & good performers on MW/LW too. The mouldy Hunts capacitors were as dust in mine but I did miss one, right up under the waveband switch, tricksy!
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Old 7th Jun 2021, 6:16 pm   #6
Lloyd 1985
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

I have a bit of a soft spot for these! I have 6 in varying states, well, 3 VHF80’s and 3 VHF80C’s, also a VHF81, same thing but in a wooden cabinet. The VHF80C was actually my first valve radio, my Dad got it from a closing down auction of a kitchen company he used to work for back in the late 90’s, no cable on it as it was used as a display prop in one of the showrooms! I put some on with a choc-block and plugged it in, and it surprisingly worked! Even the mains filter managed not to explode. Lovely radios!

Regards
Lloyd
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Old 8th Jun 2021, 9:21 am   #7
vinrads
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

Well done with the restoration ,I have never had one but I must have repaired them in the past ,I almost want to go out and buy one after such positive endorsement ,but it seems Lloyd has them all Mick.
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Old 8th Jun 2021, 6:34 pm   #8
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

There are lots of these about and they are well worth restoring. The major bug is the output transformer (typical Bush) but as there are so many scrap sets about, a good transformer can usually be found. They really do work well and sound very good.
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Old 9th Jun 2021, 6:48 am   #9
Spencervs
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Default Re: Bush VHF80

Amazing! I have one as a kitchen radio too and I haven't done much to it except slowly change capacitors. It sounds very good.and I'm in the process of changing the rest now to ensure its ok long term. It actually picks up Romanian radio on LW right on the very edge of the band scale very clearly after 10pm.

Signal isn't so strong in my kitchen for FM, so sometimes I just get on MW and listen to Absolute Radio or Gold if there is nothing or bad signal on Radio 2.
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